Our View: Repeal new HHS rule mandating free contraceptives

People have always liked free things, whether it was Roman crowds with "bread and circuses" or modern America with free Viagra and "morning after" pills.

So it's no surprise that many favor government forcing employers to provide free contraception as part of health insurance. However, recent lawsuits by employers are reminders that someone else is being forced to pay for these free "wants."

Eden Foods is among dozens of employers — Hobby Lobby is another — that have sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. At issue are requirements HHS rulemakers imposed after passage of the new federal health law often called Obamacare. One of the rules was that American companies not affiliated with a particular church, and having more than 50 employees, must pay for health insurance that includes free contraception in various forms.

Employers have balked. Many cite religious objections to being forced to provide what the Catholic Church and others say violates their beliefs on ending life. To be clear, employers filing these lawsuits do not oppose workers buying these contraceptives on their own. The companies simply say that it's wrong for HHS to place that burden on employers.

Backers of contraceptive coverage claim that contraceptives actually save money for insurers (and employers). If that were true, however, insurers would already provide free birth control — which they do not. Supporters also raise rape as an issue. Rape, though thankfully rarer, is a serious criminal issue. Its coverage, in cases when a contraceptive is requested, should be handled by authorities.

HHS further claims contraception is necessary. That cannot be true, however, because HHS has already waived coverage for tens of millions of employees of church-based institutions. How can it be "medically necessary" for one employer group and not for another?

It is true that some people require birth-control pills for existing medical conditions including endometriosis and menorrhagia. According to data from the National Survey of Family Growth, 14 percent of women taking the pill are not doing so to prevent pregnancy. In these relatively fewer cases, the drugs should not be classified as "contraception." Instead, it should be classified for medical conditions treated by a physician.

We don't know how the federal court challenge will turn out. Courts often block religious exemptions to for-profit companies, even those closed on Sundays and owned by Christian families.

Yet had HHS not put in this new, unfunded mandate, we would not see employers forced to choose between this belief and the law. The majority of employers (86 percent and growing, according to studies) have provided contraceptive insurance coverage for years, without any federal law. We believe the federal government should have left well enough alone.

With Obamacare at an all-time low in public polls, even supporters admit changes are needed. The free contraceptive mandate is an obvious example. Congress, HHS and courts should protect employers from the burden of paying for "wants" that are attainable for workers and are at odds with widely held religious beliefs. HHS should lift its "free" contraceptives mandate.